Hinge for carrying electric circuits



J. E. OVERESCH Nov. 28, 1967 HINGE FOR CARRYING ELECTRIC CIRCUITS FiledMay 25, 1965 INUE wroq J0 SEPh' 5. 01/5255! ORNEYS United States Patent3,355,695 HINGE FOR CARRYING ELECTRIC CIRCUITS Joseph E. Overesch, 1391Dunning St., Meuasha, Wis. 54952 Filed May 25, 1965, Ser. No. 458,599 9Claims. (Cl. 339-4) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hinge consisting of apair of leaves which are oscillatable with respect to the hinge pin,each leaf having a central passage extending toward the hinge pin withinwhich electric wires are arranged, a stack of discs of insulatingmaterial surrounding the hinge pin and having annular channels on thefaces of the discs to receive superimposed pairs of annular electricallyconductive elements oscillatable with respect to the other member of thepair and having a radial conductive extension from each member of eachpair to engage an electric Wire Within the recess in the hinge leaf, theedge of the insulating disc being relieved to provide an opening for theradial extension.

The subject of the invention is a door hinge having means for carryingelectrical circuits past the hinge. The invention is particularly welladapted for use in automobiles, which frequently have electricallyoperated devices within the door such as electric window operators,electrically operated door locks, and the like. It would be desirable tohave still other electrical devices in a door if there was some betterway than the present methods for carrying electric current to and fromthe swingable member.

At present, the wiring for switches and motors within the swingablemember is carried past the hinged joint on cables, which may be armoredbut frequently are not. Even an armored cable is subject to wear,breakage of conductors, and insulation failures at the point where itextends past the hinge because of the extremes of movement and bendingwhich occur every time the door is operated.

The present invention otters means of carrying substantially as manycircuits as desired through the hinge joint without flexing any wire orits insulation. This is accomplished by means of a stack of hingedconductors interspersed with wafer shaped insulators, the entire arraybeing supported about the pivot axis of the door hinge. The shape of theinsulator discs is such that the hinged portion of each conductor iscompletely enclosed. Each conductor is provided with a projecting plugprong at each side of the hinge axis, each wire being connected to theappropriate prong by means of an appropriate plug socket. If desired, asingle socket may be provided to make contact with all of the respectiveprongs in any well known manner.

The connections are preferably made within the hinge body, an inspectionplate being provided for the purpose. In the embodiment shown, theinspection plate has a dove-tailed connection with the hinge body. Otherforms of cover may be used. The hinge body is so shaped as to olTersubstantial protection against the entry of dirt into the space wherethe connections are made. If a multiple socket plug is used to make theelectrical connections, the respective sockets may be numbered, colorcoded, or otherwise identified for ease of wiring. If desired, extracontacts may be provided in addition to those which are actually used bythe equipment in a particular car door, in order to provide for theaddition of accessories without changing the hinges.

Because of the arrangement of parts provided in my novel hinge,insulation breakdown through mechanical 3,355,695 Patented Nov. 28, 1967wear is substantially impossible, while failure of electrical Contact isalmost as unlikely. Should the hinged connector wear out, it is possibleto remove the hinge pin and replace either the aliected hinged conductoror all of the hinged conductors, without removing the door hinge in itsentirety.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a horizontal cross-sectional view through the hinge of myinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of my novel hinge with portions brokenaway to show an axial vertical cross-sectional view of my device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded view of the insulating discs and hingedconductor of my device.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary broken away view similar to FIG. 2 showing amodified form of my device.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 1 showing the modifieddevice.

In the drawings, the numeral 10 designates the hinge generally. Asshown, the hinge is generally similar to present day automobile doorhinges, although the particular shape is not a part of the invention,and will depend upon the configuration of the automobile or other deviceupon which my invention is used. Hinge 10 comprises a pair of hingeleaves 11 and 12. In my device, each of hinge leaves 11 and 12 isprovided with an interior con duit, including the service cavitiesnumbered respectively 13 and 14, and the smaller conduit portionsrespectively numbered 45 and 46, through which extend insulated wires 15extending to the various switches and electrical devices within the cardoor. The body of the car is generally designated by the numeral 16 andthe door by the numeral 17. As shown in the drawings, in an automobilethe hinge axis is ofiset from the joint between the body 16 and the door17 to a point within the body. This construction is common inautomobiles today in order to permit concealment of the hinge, but myinvention Will work as well with hinge leaves 11 and 12 which are shapedin other ways. If the hinge pin 18 is located in an exposed position, itmay be desirable to provide a cover to protect the electricalconnections within the hinge from the weather, but such covers form nopart of the present invention.

As shown, hinge leaves 11 and 12 are each provided with a pair of spacedlugs 20, 20', and all of said lugs are provided with bores aligned toreceive hinge pin 18. The

hinge pin may comprise a bolt and nut as shown, or any otherconventional structure such as a headed pin and cotter pin, to insureretention of the hinge pin 18 in assembled relation with lugs 20, 20.Other structures may be used to connect the hinge leaves so that one mayoscillate with respect to the other without departing from my invention.

Surrounding hinge pin 18 is a vertical stack of discs 21, the stackbeing of suitable dimensions to occupy the entire axial space betweenthe lugs 20 of hinge leaf 11. Each disc 21 is provided with an annularchannel 22 in itsupper surface and an annular channel 22' in its lowersurface, except the last ones in the stack, which may have one channeleach, adjacent the next disc in the stack. Each upper channel is definedby an inner rim or collar 23 surrounding hinge pin 18 and by an outerrim or collar 24 at the periphery of disc 21. Each lower channel 22 issimilarly bounded by rims 23' and 24. The inner rims 23, 23 are unbrokenand are of such a height as to rest upon each other to form an unbrokencentral insula-' tion about the hinge pin 18.

Each outer rim 24, 24' is notched at a single point 25 or 25' to aboutone-half the depth of the rim 24 or 24 of 7 channel 22 or 22'. Therespective notches in rims 24 and 24' are aligned as shown in FIG. 3 inthe preferred embodiment. They may be angularly displaced somewhat toaccommodate a specific female plug arrangement, but must open oppositecavities 13, 14 in hinge leaves 11, 12.

The respective channels 22 and 22' in discs 21 combine when stacked toform an annular space having two outlets 25 and 25. The interior of theannular space is occupied by a hinged conductor designated generally as30, and comprising an upper hinge leaf 31 and a lower hinge leaf 32.Upper hinge leaf 31 .is provided with an annulus 33 and lower hinge leaf32 is provided with an annulus 34. Annuli 33 and 34 are intimatelyinterconnected so that they have face contact over substantially theentire area of the annuli, to produce an electrical contact having highconductivity and low resistance. As shown in FIG. 3, this is achieved inmy preferred embodiment by providing a metallic grommet 35 which isunitary with one of the annuli 33 or 34, and which extends through thecentral opening in the other annulus and is swaged to engage the freesurface of the second annulus, so that the two annuli are permanentlyoscillatably connected. The connection could also be made by means of aseparate grommet 35 swaged to engage the free surfaces of both annuli 33and 34, or in other ways. The opening in grommet or flange 35 is of adiameter to fit over rims 23 and 23'. The external diameter of annuli 33and 34 is such as to fit within the inner margin of rims 24 and 24'.Preferably hinged conductor 30 is a snug fit radially within channels 22and 22 when discs 21 are superimposed with a hinged conductor 30between.

The remaining portion 36 or 37 of each hinged conductor leaf 31 or 32comprises a male plug prong adapted to extend respectively through anotch 25 or 25 in superimposed discs 21, the fit between the prong andthe notch being very close, regardless of the physical shape of theprong. Because of height limitations in the usual hinge, and the numberof conductors which it is desirable to provide in each hinge,particularly in an automobile having electric window operators,applicant has found a flat wide prong to be most suitable. Using thatshape, it is possible to stack numerous conductors in a single hingejoint, as best shown in FIG. 2. By staggering the prongs horizontallyinstead of aligning them vertically, it would be possible to provide aneven greater number of contacts with out packing them too closetogether, but such an arrangement would require a thicker hinge leaf toaccommodate cavities 13, 14, and could result in difliculty inservicing. It will be seen that the arrangement of notches 25 and 25' issuch that a pair of prongs 36 extends into hinge leaf 11 from one disc21 and a pair of prongs 37 extends into hinge leaf 12 from the next disc21. This arrangement is a necessity in order to permit the hingedconductors 30 to oscillate about the hinge axis, without undulymultiplying the number of discs 21 required. It would be possible toavoid this limitation by providing each insulating disc 21 with a singlechannel 22 on one face, leaving the other face plane, but it would thenbe necessary to provide a pair of discs between each pair of adjacenthinged conductors 30, rather than providing a single disc between eachpair of conductors 30. In the preferred embodiment, only the top andbottom discs are provided with fiat faces, and even they could beidentical with the intermediate discs if desired.

Discs 21 are formed of any insulating material. One suitable way ofconstructing the discs would be to mold them from plastic.

As best shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the wires 15 may be connected toprongs 36 and 37 of the hinged conductors 30 by providing each wire witha flat clip 40, which is provided with a collar 41 into which wire 15 iscrimped or soldered, and with flanges 42 which are curved to enclose thesides of prongs 36 or .37, as best shown in FIG. 1.

A large rectangular cavity 13 is provided within each hinge leaf 11 and12 to receive the prongs 36 and 37 of the hinged conductors 30 and toprovide space within which the connections are made to wires 15. Accessis provided to cavities 13 and. 1.4 by pro i g ccess plates 4 43 and 44.As shown best in FIG. 1, these may have a dove-tailed connection withthe side wall of the cavities 13 and 14, but it is contemplated that theaccess plate may be hinged, snapped, or screwed into place. Any otherconvenient method of closure may be used to provide ready access tocavities 13 and 14 for servicing.

If necessary for strength, cavities 13 and 14 may be limited to thespace about the prongs 36 and 37, and the remainder of the conduit forwires 15 may be narrowed as shown at 45 and 46 to a conduit of muchsmaller dimensions through which wires 15 extend.

Cavities 13 and 14 are desirably lined or coated with insulatingmaterial, because in the embodiment shown, the walls of the cavity willcome into contact with the uninsulated connectors 40 during pivotingmovement of the hinge leaf about the axis of hinge pin 18.

In the alternative, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, female plugs 50 eachhaving an insulating body 51 and containing respective conductors 52which make intimate contact with each prong 36 and 37 may be used in amanner conventional with other multiple conductor electricalconnections, in which case the plug walls 53 which are made ofinsulating material will be the part which contacts the interior ofrespective cavities 13 and 14, and will provide all the insulationneeded. Such a plug 50 may be provided with screw terminals 54 to whichwires such as 15 may be individually attached, thus serving as aterminal block as well as a plug. There will be no wear on the plugsince there is no axial movement of the plug with respect to theinterior walls of cavities 13 and 14. In fact the female plug 50 may bemade a close fit within the cavity, as shown, in order to restrict orprevent lateral movement between the plug 50 and the cavity wall, sothat oscillation is positively limited to annuli 33 and 34, so far asthe electrical parts are concerned.

In accordance with the usual practice, the hinge may be bolted to a carbody and to a car door by meansof bolts 47, or may be secured in anyother conventional method to the unit on which the hinge is used.

It will be seen that my invention provides a far superior structure forconducting electric current through a hinge than has previously beenknown, in that the insulation is protected against wear, and the partsare readily produced, serviced, and replaced. The invention has specialapplica tion in automobile doors, but is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. In combination, a hinge comprising a pair of hinge leaves havingmargins, a pin having an axis, said leaves and electrical conductorcomprising a pair of members substantially encircling the axis of saidpin, said members being composed of conductive material and beingadapted to contact each other in all positions of oscillation, one ofsaid pair of conductive members being adapted to oscillate only with onesaid hinge leaf and the other said conductive member being adapted tooscillate only with the other said hinge leaf, whereby said pair ofconductive members provides a conductive path past the axis of saidhinge pin in all positions of oscillation of said hinge leaves, saidpair of conductive members being placed between a pair of insulatingdiscs, each said insulating disc comprising a body adapted to berotated, said body being provided with a channel within which aconductor of said pair of members is received, a relief in the rim ofsaid channel, and conductive extensions on each of said pair of membersof said electrical conductor, each said extension being engaged withsaid relief and extending generally radially outwardly from saidchannel.

2. A device of claim 1 in which each said hinge leaf is provided with arecess extending from the margin of said hinge leaf nearest to saidhinge pin, one said extension from each said pair of members lying atleast in' part within each said recess, and a plurality of electricallyconductive elements, one said electrically conductive element being ,inelectrical contact with each said extension within. a said recess.

3. The device of claim 2 in Which said hinge is provided with aplurality of said electrical conductors having a pair of members and isfurther provided with a number of said insulating discs, one greaterthan the number of said electrical conductors, said electricalconductors and said discs comprising an axial series extending along theaxis of said pin, each end member of said series comprising a said discand the intermediate members of said series comprising alternateelectrical conductors and discs.

4. The device of claim 2 in which an opening is provided in said hingeleaf adapted to give access to said recess Without disassembling saidhinge, and removable means adapted to close said opening.

5. The device of claim 1 in which each said insulating disc iscylindrical and is provided with a central hole to receive said hingepin, said disc having one said channel on at least one face to receivesaid electrically conducting member, said channel being radially spacedfrom said central hole and from the cylindrical surface of said disc toinsulate said electrcially conducting member, each said channel beingprovided with only a single said relief to receive a said radialextension, and separate radial extensions on each of said pair ofmembers of said electrical conductors being received in separate saidreliefs in different discs, each said extension being fixed with respectto one said hinge leaf.

6. The device of claim 5 in which each said radial extension comprises amale portion of an electrical plug.

7. The device of claim 6, including a separate female plug portion foreach said radial extension.

8. The device of claim 6, including a unitary female plug associatedwith the recess in each said hinge leaf, each said female plug beingprovided with an insulated opening for each said radial extensionextending into aid 5 recess, and a respective contact member Within eachsaid opening in conductive relationship with each said radial extension.

9. The device of claim 8 further comprising means within said recess tosecure a Wire to each said contact member.

0 References Cited FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner. MARVIN A.CHAMPION, Examiner.

P. TEITELBAUM, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,355,695 November 28, 1967 Joseph E. Overesch It is hereby certifiedthat error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction andthat the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, line 48, after "leaves", second occurrence, insert beingoscillatably mounted for movement about said axis,

Signed and sealed this 14th day of January 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

1. IN COMBINATION, A HINGE COMPRISING A PAIR OF HINGE LEAVES HAVINGMARGINS, A PIN HAVING AN AXIS, SAID LEAVES AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORCOMPRISING A PAIR OF MEMBERS SUBSTANTIALLY ENCIRCLING THE AXIS OF SAIDPIN, SAID MEMBERS BEING COMPOSED OF CONDUCTIVE MATERIAL AND BEINGADAPTED TO CONTACT EACH OTHER IN ALL POSITIONS OF OSCILLATION, ONE OFSAID PAIR OF CONDUCTIVE MEMBERS BEING ADAPTED TO OSCILLATE ONLY WITH ONESAID HINGE LEAF AND THE OTHER SAID CONDUCTIVE MEMBER BEING ADAPTED TOOSCILLATE ONLY WITH THE OTHER SAID HINGE LEAF, WHEREBY SAID PAIR OFCONDUCTIVE MEMBERS PROVIDES A CONDUCTIVE PATH PAST THE AXIS OF SAIDHINGE PIN IN ALL POSITIONS OF OSCILLATION OF SAID HINGE LEAVES, SAIDPAIR OF CONDUCTIVE MEMBERS BEING PLACED BETWEEN A PAIR OF INSULATINGDISCS, EACH SAID INSULATING DISC COMPRISING A BODY ADAPTED TO BEROTATED, SAID BODY BEING PROVIDED WITH A CHANNEL WITHIN WHICH ACONDUCTOR OF SAID PAIR OF MEMBERS IS RECEIVED, A RELIEF IN THE RIM OFSAID CHANNEL, AND CONDUCTIVE EXTENSIONS ON EACH OF SAID PAIR OF MEMBERSOF SAID ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR, EACH SAID EXTENSION BEING ENGAGED WITHSAID RELIEF AND EXTENDING GENERALLY RADIALLY OUTWARDLY FROM SAIDCHANNEL.